FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s long-running fight against COVID-19 continues to “move in the right direction,” with another round of weekly declines in new cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
The Democratic governor reported 9,532 new coronavirus cases across Kentucky last week, compared with about 12,000 cases the week before. New virus-related cases statewide have declined seven straight weeks, Beshear said. Kentucky’s test positivity rate, which had surpassed 33% during the height of the omicron outbreak, was down to 4.17%, he said.
“While we still have some struggles, while this pandemic is still with us, things continue to move in the right direction,” Beshear said during a news conference. “And they are continuing to move at a regular pace. That means cases, positivity rates — all declining — as well as hospitalizations, those in the ICU and those on ventilators. Every metric is moving the right direction.”
While the pandemic is receding, the statewide death toll from the virus remains significant, the governor said. Beshear reported more than 280 deaths statewide last week, comparable to the prior week. That means that many families are “still struggling,” he said.
Meanwhile, the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations was another metric that the governor indicated he would like to see improve. More than 6,450 Kentuckians last week got vaccinated for the first time, more than 8,000 received the second shot and more than 10,800 got their booster shot, he said.
“There’s something positive to those numbers, even though they’re less than we’d like, and it’s that they are not necessarily declining week to week,” Beshear said.
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